And so it goes

I went for my cardiologist  appointment on Thursday and he was very pleased with the heart rhythm. I was at 62 beats a minute instead of the 125 two weeks ago. He said that it would be nice to take me off the medications but feels that is too big a chance to take at this time. 'We' just got the flutters to stop and to take me off the meds now could allow it to start up again. So I am to see him in three months and we'll assess from there.

Also he showed me the reading and even I could see it looked better that the last one. It was, neat, I guess. The other one had lots of jagged lines.

He told me that there is this one spike on there that if I was to go into emergency with a stubbed toe and they did an EKG they'd FREAK when they saw it ! ! ! ! ! He says he can tell them what it is though.

Like a nitwit I forgot to ask him what it was. I also asked for but forgot to get a copy of my EKG tape.
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So earlier that day I had this lump come up on my leg. I had one before. It was red, sore like a bruise but not coloured like one, and it was sensitive and hot to the touch.

I had gone to the doctor then, and they put me on some antibiotics for it. They thought it was a clot. Well, now that I'm on warfarin, I guess its a bigger deal. Anyway, I called the doctors office and they had me come in to see the nurse. She took one look and some measurements and went to talk to a doctor who wants me to go get a Doppler done. Okay, but I think that it may be gone or moved or what ever by the time they can get a Doppler. I don't know, though, because the health system up here can work in strange ways. I may very well get an appointment right away.

As I was going in to this appointment the pharmacist in charge of my meds came out and said she had just that second called and left a message about my blood count. Its down to 1.7 now which is just above where it was three weeks ago.

So the dosage is changed again. I now take 4 mgs on Thursday and Sunday, and 5 mgs the rest of the week. Then I will get my blood tested Wednesday instead of Tuesday. That's to allow the change to maybe take hold.

You know I felt like crap most of yesterday. In the morning, i realized I had forgotten to take the rhythm med and the warfarin. So that will mess up her reading she thinks. Plus missing the other pills made my heart be skippy and all. Which is why I felt like crap. Then this morning I went to take my meds and found that I had forgotten to even put the rhythm meds in my container. How long I had gone without I don't know. I make the container up on Wednesdays so I'm guessing I missed a total of 2 doses or all day Thursday's.

Better make sure that doesn't happen again.

Yay, thin blood ! ! ! ! !

Went in and got the blood results today. I am at 2.3 which is good. The Lasix has been increased because somewhere along the line it seems like it stopped working. I have put on 7 pounds in the past week just from fluid retention. Consequently my BP has been going up. Its not real critical, but we have to stay on top of it.

I still have to get blood tests every week until we're sure that I am stabilized as far as anti-coagulation. I see the cardiologist this coming Thursday again for another follow up.

It makes me a little unsure that my blood has hit the mark so fast. Its not like me. I wonder if it is due to the extra dose I had on the Friday to sort of give me a boost. Ah well, we'll find out soon enough. Its just that the way the rare things or weird things happen to me, it just seems unusual to get the dosage right on the second try.

Well, this is rather interesting.

When last I wrote I had heard that I had atrial fibrillation. So they added some meds and took some away, and I had my first blood test.

Well, last Thursday I went for a follow-up appointment to see how all was going. Now from the Tuesday I had not been feeling at all well. My heart was doing that fluttering thing and even though I couldn't feel it all the time, it was, apparently doing it most of the time.

I was thinking I wished I had the appointment on one of those days so the cardiologist could see it and tell me what was specifically going on. Lucky (?) for me I awoke Thursday morning feeling pretty crummy still.

I arrived early at the doctor's office as parking is a real pain around there so if I can get there early I may get a spot and don't mind sitting in the car and waiting. When I got in the office, someone came out almost right away with a gown and I'm thinking that maybe I have another test coming.Turns out it was another EKG. The person performing it can't tell you much but she did say they captured something.

I wait in the room and the doctor comes in and looks at the reading and says that the fibrillation has settled into a flutter instead. The top of my heart was beating at over 200 BPM, and the bottom was at 126.  He said the flutter was a step in the right direction. He wanted me to increase the rhythm medication. I had taken one already and he wanted me to take another as soon as I got home.

I happened to have brought the meds with me in the car so took it as soon as I got outside. Then I headed home as I was going in to work later in the day. I arrived home and had a few hours to kill, so sat and did some stuff on the computer.

Well, don't I start to feel pretty crummy. I can't describe it other than I just felt bad! Dizzy? Exhausted? Faint? Not sure which describes it but I sure didn't feel like me. I called work and asked if they could get someone to cover for me. I was hoping the lady I traded shifts with would stay as she is always asking for more hours. It got down to 20 minutes before my shift and they finally got an answer from her. She couldn't do it. They also had some calls out to some other girls, but hadn't heard back from them. I told them I would come in as I wasn't leaving them short handed, but to keep trying to get someone.

I was to work 2:00 to 6:30. Luckily one young lady, a new hire, said she thought she could be there by 5:30. I was still feeling lousy, but thought I could make it that far. Turns out she was able to get there for 5:00 so I could go home.  I thanked her for coming in and went home.

I actually called the doctor's office to tell them what I felt like and they put the doctor on the phone. He said to give it a little time but if this didn't sort itself out we'd have to do something else. (sounded like a threat to me).

Friday morning I got a call from the pharmacist on duty at our medical centre. She is the one that will be keeping track of my medications and dosages. I went in to see her and explained all that had been going on. She recommended rather than double it, we should add half again as much for four days, then go up to double as the doctor ordered. I also had to increase my warfarin to 2 for one day as a boost, then go back to one. The blood numbers shoudl be between 2 and 3 whatever they measure. Mine was at 1.6, which is why she recommended the boost. It sort of gets you started.
I had the next blood test yesterday (Tuesday). I should get the results today. Then I will either go up or down.

This sounds like a lot of CRAP going on, but it really is nice to finally know what is going on. So many times I have felt really bad and been told there is nothing wrong. I guess it really is true about women not being diagnosed properly. I am SO VERY GLAD that the pharmacist decided to do an EKG that day and that they caught my abnormal pulse. Also I am very glad to not be going to the same cardiologist I had for several years. His office never did send anything to my family doctor. This new doctor had reports sent almost before I left the office.

Hope you don't mind listening to this but I have to keep track of it somehow.

So what do I write about?

Well, how about the fact that I am swimming, okay so its Aqua fit, once a week now. Well, not NOW because we are off till the 20th of January. But soon.

And, this is the year I am supposed to get a new knee. Haven't heard anything from the doctor's office but that's okay because. . . . . . .

I have been diagnosed, finally, with a heart issue. Its appears to be electrical of some kind. Valves, veins, arteries are all okay, but there is a palpitation or fibrillation that show's up periodically and makes me a prime candidate for a stroke.

Well, I don't like that one little bit. If that should ever happen to me and I couldn't work with my hands or had to learn it all over again, I think I'd go nuts. Not that there is any distance to go.

So, I have had two medications taken away and three added, which means I have gone up overall by one. I have to get blood tests twice a week until they get the amount of warfarin correct. I can no longer shovel snow. (Well technically I was pushing and pulling it because I have a scoop).

I had a 24 hour holter monitor that showed an event of well over two hours where my heart was not beating correctly.